The arrival of some brand new organic plains, teddy bear fleece and The Crafty Lass's Midnight Meadows collection couldn't have been better timed. It was the perfect combination to come up with my Midnight Meadow Chain quilt top and to try out the new teddy bear fleece instead of cotton and wadding to back it. It was a huge success and is now the favourite quilt in the house. Because it is really light weight but snuggly, it is also my go to quilt to take away with us so it comes in the car on long journeysand for caravan snuggles.
FINISHED SIZE
140cm x 140cm
YOU WILL NEED
1 metre Purple Thistles
50cm of two plains of your choice (100cm in total)
150cm of a plain that will also be used for the border
150cm Teddy fleece
All your usual sewing supplies
METHOD
Cut your fabric to size:
Thistles - 36 - 6" Squares
Solid 1 - 12 - 6" x 2.5"
Solid 1 - 12 - 8" x 2.5"
Solid 2 - 12 - 6" x 2.5"
Solid 2 - 12 - 8" x 2.5"
Solid 3 - 12 - 6" x 2.5"
Solid 3 - 12 - 8" x 2.5"
2. Make up 12 blocks using each of the three colour ways. Sew the short edge to a square first. Press to the floral print.
3. Sew the longer plain to the top. Repeat this until you have 36 blocks.
4. Lay the blocks out in a way that pleases you. It took me several attempts before I was happy with this one.
5. Sew rows of 6 first and then sew those 6 rows together. Give the whole thing a good press.
6. To add the borders cut 6 full bolt widths of your colour 3. For this I used fuchsia.
7. With two strips, join the short edges together. Sew one border to one edge of the patchwork first and trim.
8. With the part you trimmed, sew it short edges together with one of the full bolt widths.
9. Now sew this to the next edge and repeat step 8.
10. Sew the final two borders on and give press to towards the border.
11. Lay the patchwork on your teddy fleece and pin it in place.
12. You can quilt however way you prefer. I have gone with diagonals and so I have used chalk to mark out the lines.
13. Stitch close to edge all the way around. The teddy fleece is slippy so this will help stabilise the fabric when you add the binding. Trim.
14. Bind your quilt in your preferred method.
My method is to cut 2" full bolt width strips of the thistle print. I have joined them all diagonally and then used my own bias binder maker. I sew to the back, press to the front and then sew down using my sewing machine at the front.
I know that machine binding is often an unpopular opinion but I do this for a few reasons. 1 - life is too short to do methods you don't enjoy. 2 - my hands ache when I hand sew. 3 - I have two kids and 2 businesses so the quickest option always wins. 4 - machine stitching is much stronger, and I trust it will last longer, especially when it is taken on camping trips and used for den building.
This quilt was a test of the new teddy fleece, and it has a massive thumbs up from me. My next project for it is as a jacket lining. I have it in 6 colour ways. Hopefully you find a shade to fit your latest project.
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